“We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do." - Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, two hours ago.
"These are serious times, and we need serious people to address them." - Aaron Sorkin, via Andrew Shepard, The American President
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Well, thank Heaven that's out of the way.
It appears that the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama II, was born August 4, 1961, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, which I am fairly certain was at the time and remains one of the fifty United States.
Roughly two hours ago, the White House released official copies of President Obama's "long form" birth certificate, showing the above information. Copies of the document will be available in one gazillion news outlets before your intrepid scribe is done with this particular screed. There will be no link in this particular outlet.
That Donald Trump is taking credit for this extraordinary revelation is neither surprising, nor out of Mr. Trump's wheelhouse. Mr. Trump, who is not a declared candidate for anything as of this writing, was in his personal helicopter, and preparing to land in Portsmouth, NH, for a tour of the area, ostensibly to engender support for a 2012 run at the White House. Upon landing, Mr. Trump then engaged the press, and enlightened them as to just how proud of himself he was to have caused this revelation to occur. That he then quoted a non-existent CNN poll showing him "statistically tied" with President Obama in an hypothetical 2012 presidential race was just icing on the cake.
It took CNN roughly forty seconds to correct Mr. Trump, by my estimate; they ran a poll showing Mr. Trump and Mike Huckabee tied for an hypothetical Republican nomination. CNN then quoted three other polls showing Mr. Trump trailing President Obama by thirteen to eighteen percentage points.
Mr. Trump's ego is approximately the size of one of his casinos, or perhaps the Moon. I admittedly forget which it is.
That the President, whom I watched deliver an unscheduled address of great brevity on this topic this morning, managed not to laugh out loud whilst doing so is a testament to his character. That the press managed to recognize the linkage between this address and Mr. Sorkin's writing is encouraging, even if the reference was to The West Wing, and not The American President.
That I personally support President Obama should be no surprise to even the most casual reader of this space. That I am personally disgusted by the traction this issue has gotten in the name of partisan politics shouldn't suprise anyone, either.
Can we be done with this now? Please?
One last thing: Mr. President, if I forget to say so by August 4, please enjoy a very happy fiftieth birthday. I know I enjoyed mine.
Until next time,
Excelsior!
